A news report traced to the Nigerian Communications Commission published on a number of newspapers on Tuesday said that the Nigerian Senate “okayed” the recent controversial increase in the price of data bundle ordered by the federal agency.
“The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, has acted in national interest on the issue of data price increase, the Senate Committee on Communications has said,” Daily Trust reported.
“The Committee, which visited the NCC headquarters in Abuja yesterday as part of it oversight functions, said Nigerians should see the commission as being on their side on the issue of data price increase.”
In a swift reaction, the Nigerian Senate issued a statement on Tuesday, December 13, 2016 saying it never endorsed the data price hike, which it had earlier ordered that it be suspended.
“Our attention has been drawn to a publication with the misleading title ‘Senate Okays Data Price Hike, says NCC Acted in national Interest’ in a national daily insinuating that the Senate through its committee on communications sanctioned data price increase by telecommunications service providers during an oversight visit to the Nigerian Communication Commission,” the statement signed by Kayode Odunaro a media aide to Senator Solomon Adeola, and delivered to The Trent by email, said.
“There is no iota of truth in the misleading title as the contrary is the case from what the Vice chairman of the Committee Senator Solomon Adeola said in his presentation during the briefing by NCC Executive Vice Chairman, Professor Umaru Dambatta.
“Senator Adeola while commending the NCC for its achievements in recent times stated that the action it took in suspending the proposed data hike following public outcry was in the national and peoples’ interest stressing that their prompt responses to Senate inquiries on the matter and other related issues and a promise to undertake further scientific study on the data hike issue was commendable.
“As can be seen from the body of the story no where did the senator ‘okays’ the regulatory agency recommended “price floor” which was the issue that gave rise to the proposed data price hike that has since been suspended.
